Sorry Day is an event which commemorates the anniversary of the handing down of the Bringing Them Home Report in the Commonwealth Parliament in 1997. Sorry Day is a day for all Australians to reflect on the profound grief and trauma experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, particularly members of the Stolen Generations due to past government policies. It is also an opportunity to celebrate the strength and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and to reaffirm our shared commitment to healing and reconciliation. As a Church community we played a role in the outcomes of some of these policies and we can take to heart the words of John Paul the II in his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation the Bishops of Oceania in 2011. “The Church expresses deep regret and asks forgiveness where her children have been or still are party to these wrongs. Aware of the shameful injustices done to indigenous peoples in Oceania, the Synod Fathers apologized unreservedly for the part played in these by members of the Church, especially where children were forcibly separated from their families.”

A public Sorry Day event is being held in Yagan Square in the City on Saturday the 26th of May from 9:45am-11.45am. Attached is a flyer about the event, we hope to see some of you there. (ACM Director)

Read current and past issues of the JEDO Newsletter here, and catch up on the social justice work of the Justice, Ecology and Development Office within the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth. Continue Reading

The use of acknowledgement plaques on entrances to homes, churches, workplaces and other buildings, serve to remind Australians of the presence of the Aboriginal people in our land millennia before the making of the Australian colonies and the Australian nation Continue Reading Aboriginal Acknowledgement Plaque Orders